Chapter 10: The Agonizingly Slow Music Copyright Website

Chapter 10: The Excruciatingly Slow Music Copyright Website

After being fed several times in a row, Lu Anzhi noticed that Qianqian seemed to be endlessly insistent, so he quickly tried to divert her attention. "Qianqian, do you want to try on some new clothes?"

Qianqian's eyes sparkled as she replied, "Yes!"

She had been eager to wear new clothes just moments ago, but had been distracted by feeding her father. Now, upon hearing Lu Anzhi's suggestion, she turned around and picked up a pink little dress. "I want to wear this one!"

It seemed she liked dresses.

Lu Anzhi tried to put the dress on her directly, but having never done this before, he fumbled awkwardly and couldn’t manage to dress Qianqian after quite some time.

"I’ll do it," Zhang Suxin offered. She quickly and skillfully helped Qianqian change into the new dress.

Lu Anzhi couldn’t help but praise her, “You’re really skilled.”

Zhang Suxin smiled but said nothing. What else could she do if she wasn’t skilled? She wasn’t like him, able to spend three years traveling around.

This playful complaint remained unspoken, just a thought in her mind to avoid making Lu Anzhi feel bad.

After changing into the dress, Qianqian proudly showed off in front of Lu Anzhi and Zhang Suxin, then ran off to look in the mirror.

Zhang Suxin’s home didn’t have a full-length mirror, only a half-length mirror above the shoe cabinet.

The little girl was too short to see herself, so she climbed onto the coffee table with some effort to face the mirror properly.

“She’s quite fond of admiring herself,” Lu Anzhi chuckled.

Hearing this, Qianqian seemed to think it was a compliment. She giggled and said, “Qianqian is pretty!”

Lu Anzhi replied, “Yes, yes, Qianqian is pretty.”

Qianqian grew even happier and looked at herself in the mirror again and again, unfazed by repetition.

“Come on, try the other clothes,” Zhang Suxin said as she lifted Qianqian down from the coffee table.

They tried on the other outfits one by one, all fitting just right. Lu Anzhi relaxed, realizing his earlier size estimates had been quite accurate.

Later, Zhang Suxin helped Qianqian change back into her old clothes and took the new ones away, saying they needed to be washed before wearing.

Lu Anzhi didn’t understand these details, but since Zhang Suxin had taken care of Qianqian for so long, he trusted there was a good reason.

He stayed to play with Qianqian while Zhang Suxin went off to wash the clothes.

Qianqian carefully laid out the toys Lu Anzhi had bought for her on the coffee table, counting them one by one, then brought over her own toys to show off.

“This is the little dog doll…”

“This is the pink car…”

“The green car…”

“The yellow… hmm… excavator!”

“Little drum!”

Qianqian shook a small rattle drum, making a rhythmic sound. Zhang Suxin came back out.

“So fast?” Lu Anzhi asked.

Zhang Suxin replied, “I bought a small washing machine specially for her clothes. You just put her clothes in and start the machine.”

Lu Anzhi was surprised. “There’s actually a washing machine just for kids?”

Zhang Suxin nodded. “Later I thought it wasn’t really necessary, but since I’d already bought it, I kept using it.”

Lu Anzhi laughed. “You’re a big star; a little money like that doesn’t matter.”

Zhang Suxin said, “I’m a has-been star now. I spent over two years living off savings, only last year starting to take some songwriting gigs to help others. I can’t afford to be extravagant.”

Lu Anzhi said, “I imagine it’s not cheap to hire you to write songs?”

His mind was brimming with songs from his past life, the lyrics, melodies, and arrangements all vivid. But since he wasn’t an insider like Zhang Suxin, had no connections or fame, those songs remained just memories, which was a pity.

Zhang Suxin wrinkled her delicate nose and smiled a little proudly. “Of course, I was quite popular as a singer-songwriter in my prime. If I charged too little, wouldn’t it be insulting to those early years of my career?”

Lu Anzhi was slightly surprised—not by her words but because he had never seen this playful expression on her face before.

Zhang Suxin asked, “By the way, do you have your ID card with you?”

“I do,” Lu Anzhi said, retrieving it from his backpack.

The ID card in this world was a bit different from the previous one but still a solid card, used for subway entry and could be swiped.

However, swiping it at home to log into websites was obviously impossible.

Zhang Suxin took out a camera, photographed Lu Anzhi’s ID card, then removed the memory card from the camera and plugged it into her desktop computer via a card reader.

Watching this, Lu Anzhi felt nostalgic for the smartphones of his past life.

He wondered when smartphones would develop in this world.

Unfortunately, he wasn’t skilled with such technology; otherwise, he might have made a name for himself as the “father of the Apple” industry here.

After importing the ID photo into the computer, Zhang Suxin opened a software to edit the image’s format and size.

“You really know a lot,” Lu Anzhi remarked.

Zhang Suxin said, “No choice. Last year, when I started taking songwriting gigs, I had to use this website. But it only launched in the past two years, so I hadn’t used it before retiring. I had to register temporarily.

“This copyright website requires the ID photo in a fixed format, and it can’t be too large. It’s quite a hassle.

“I can’t easily take my own ID card out, and it’s inconvenient to ask my old agency, so I had to learn to edit photos myself.”

As she spoke, Zhang Suxin finished editing and saved the new image on the desktop. Then she opened a document for Lu Anzhi to see.

“I wrote down your 'Two Tigers' yesterday, turned it into a piano score, and completed the lyrics. Take a look and see if it’s correct.”

Lu Anzhi hadn’t expected Zhang Suxin to be so thoughtful. Leaning in to examine it, he said, “No problem, thank you very much.”

Bending closer, he unintentionally noticed Zhang Suxin’s body heat.

A fresh scent of shampoo wafted into his nose, pleasantly fragrant.

“Hmm...” Zhang Suxin murmured softly, her voice a bit muffled, seeming somewhat shy.

Only then did Lu Anzhi realize and quickly straightened up.

After that, Zhang Suxin opened a website. The page was very clean and simple, with the words “Music Copyright Website” prominently displayed.

She opened the registration page, stood aside to let Lu Anzhi sit and fill in his username and password, then received a verification code on her phone.

Then came the long process of identity verification and uploading the ID card.

Sure enough, the website’s speed was painfully slow, frequently failing uploads. Zhang Suxin tried over ten times before finally succeeding.

“Do you want to use Doraemon’s alias or your real name, Lu Anzhi?” she asked.

Lu Anzhi replied, “Just Lu Anzhi.”

When he began writing novels, he was used to pen names. In his past life, when he occasionally wrote online fiction, he also used a casual pen name, hence the origin of this one.

Now, there was no need for that.

Zhang Suxin nodded and filled in “Lu Anzhi” as the official name.

Next came uploading the sheet music and lyrics for “Two Tigers.”

These two proved even harder to upload, with repeated failures—once even reaching 99% before the page crashed.

Watching this, Lu Anzhi was ready to smash the computer, but Zhang Suxin kept calm and patient, which made him admire her even more.

After finishing the uploads and waiting for approval, both Lu Anzhi and Zhang Suxin played with Qianqian’s toys.

Soon, Zhang Suxin suddenly received a phone call. After hanging up, she frowned with worry.

“What’s wrong?” Lu Anzhi asked.

She sighed, “There’s a songwriting gig I’ve been delaying for a long time. I just haven’t found any inspiration.”

(End of chapter)